Stolen gadgets that can help catch a thief

Tuesday

Mar 29, 2011 at 2:00 AM

When a thief breaks into your home or car, they're likely to steal consumer electronics such as laptops, desktop computers, cameras, and digital electronics — especially flat screen TVs and personal audio devices — simply because these are very easily converted to cash.

C.M. BOOTS-FAUBERT

When a thief breaks into your home or car, they're likely to steal consumer electronics such as laptops, desktop computers, cameras, and digital electronics — especially flat screen TVs and personal audio devices — simply because these are very easily converted to cash.

When your electronics are stolen by a professional thief or group, they are more likely to end up being sold online through sites like eBay — and once they are shipped off to the auction winner, the chances of recovery by the police usually shrinks to nil — and when you are the victim of an amateur thief the situation is not much better.

They are likely to stick with the traditional methods of converting stolen goods into money — or, frequently, drugs — by bartering directly with their drug dealer or selling their haul to a pawnshop, and in the case of jewelry and watches, mailing them off in one of those convenient envelopes as advertised on TV. Once the items leave the thieves' hands, the chances of recovery drops significantly — and often are made worse by the fact that few people actually write down the serial numbers of their electronics.

According to the most recent FBI crime report, fewer than 3 percent of stolen computers are recovered. Usually, when the police recover stolen goods, it's because the thief made a mistake, but every now and then the victim himself — or herself — is able to track down and identify the thief, who ends up behind bars as a result of the very technology that was targeted.

Last month Mark Bao, a student at Bentley University in Waltham, had his Macbook Air notebook computer stolen from a lounge at the school when he left it unattended for 20 minutes. When he returned to his seat, he discovered the computer was gone.

The theft of a $1,000 computer is not a remarkable event, but what Bao chose to do about the theft is quite remarkable. Aware that his computer was configured to use a subscription-based online file backup service, Bao checked the folder on BackBlaze (www.backblaze.com) and discovered photos and a pair of videos that had been created after the computer was stolen. Both of the videos featured the thief happily dancing.

What was Bao to do? Why, upload the videos to YouTube, naturally! The video (http://tinyurl.com/4fqxtoq) demonstrates the quality of the Macbook's video camera while providing a clear ID of the thief, and the 500,000 plus views resulted in the thief being identified by a viewer, though not before he voluntarily turned the computer — and himself — over to the campus police, begging Bao to take the video down.

Many people today have a smartphone, notebook and desktop computers, an iPod, and one or more portable video game systems — lots of things for thieves to steal, in other words, and while Bao was able to get his stolen computer returned thanks to a combination of luck and stupidity on the part of the thief, the odds of recovering your personal electronics are against you if they end up being stolen — but there is a way to improve those odds.

While insurance can replace your electronics, it is useless for replacing the data on them — and how do you place a value on your digital photos, contacts, bookmarks, and the video of your daughter taking her first steps? So much of our lives is now stored and carried on these portable devices that losing one can be a traumatic experience, and if your business is also dependent upon your computers, their theft can be a genuine catastrophe.

Using online backup services like BackBlaze, Carbonite (www.carbonite.com), or Norton Online Backup (www.backup.com) is certainly the first step you should take in securing your data so that you can recover it if your computer is stolen or lost. The next logical step is to hedge your bet by installing an app that will allow you to be proactive in recovering your device after it is stolen, and hopefully help put the thief responsible behind bars.

GadgetTrak (www.gadgettrak.com) is a small piece of software that can be installed on your laptop, netbook, PC, iPod, iPad or smartphone that sits silent and invisible on the device; a dormant but powerful piece of insurance should your protected device go missing.

When you remotely activate it, GadgetTrak reports the current location of your device with a high level of accuracy — within 10 to 20 meters — using nearby Wi-Fi networks to obtain its location and recording information like its IP address, while simultaneously activating the device's camera (if it has one), potentially providing you a digital photo of the person using it as well as the background location.

In the case of your smartphone, it not only provides the location and a photo. In the event that the thief removes your SIM card and replaces it with another, the app will send you the phone number of the new card, along with its identifiable information as well as its location. Once the phone is connected to the network, you can use the software to download your contacts, photos, and videos remotely without the thief being aware, and if the situation warrants it, delete that data from the phone to keep it safe.

Ztrace Gold (www.ztrace.com) is a similar product and service for computers that emphasizes recovery — the main benefit being that their app is completely invisible, undetectable, and cannot be removed or disabled by the thief.

Every time the computer is connected to the Internet, the app checks with the company's server to determine the system status. Operating in stealth mode, with no directories, files, icons, or sounds ever appearing on the computer, the thief has no way of knowing that the computer is broadcasting its location each time they take it online.

The service also includes a team that works with law enforcement to recover your computer, if it gets stolen.

LocateMyLaptop (www.locatemylaptop.com) provides a similar service but takes it a step further, with a focus on data security and recovery, as well as locating the stolen computer.

If your computer is lost or stolen, once it is taken online you can sign into your account via the Web and not only track the current location of your missing system, but also remotely delete or shred the data on it beyond retrieval.

Smartphones and portable computing have become a necessity of modern business — and, for a growing percentage of the population, for modern life, which is why we take these devices with us everywhere. A notebook computer left in a car is all the excuse a thief needs to smash the window, grab it, and run, and this sort of crime is a growing problem everywhere — including Cape Cod.

"Theft of notebooks and other electronics are on the rise," says Falmouth police Sgt. Douglas DeCosta.

"Predominantly it's a drug thing — when they steal the item, they either trade it for drugs or take it to a pawn shop. That's why we have relationships with the shops in Fall River, Hyannis, and Plymouth," he explains.

When I asked DeCosta about programs like GadgetTrak, he was not certain that the Falmouth police had a case that made use of them, but he was clear on the their value. "I would say that it is a good thing," he says.

Anything you can do to help the police track down your device after it has been stolen is helpful, he says, underscoring that recording the serial numbers of your computers, phones, and other devices and keeping the list separate from them should be the first thing you do after buying a new device.

C.M. Boots-Faubert is a freelance writer who lives in Falmouth. You can reach him at chris@boots-faubert.com.